An Opportunity for Kite Flying

By

Daniel Gilbert

Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm ET

In Larose, La., a town of about 7,300 people in Lafourche Parish where most houses are hoisted on stilts or built atop grassy mounds, cars sat in many driveways. That made clear that residents were home and not overly concerned about the looming hurricane.

Logan Collins seized the high winds as an opportunity to fly his kite, a plane modeled after the Red Baron of World War I fame. The tugboat captain said with a Cajun drawl that he isn’t going anywhere.

“Anything above a two we’re going to leave,” he said, referring to a Category 2 storm, a level of intensity no longer forecast for Isaac. “That’s when it gets really dangerous.”

His house, whose roof is made of corrugated steel, is perched four feet above the ground—atop a wooden porch that encircles the house. It’s built on brick pillars that sit on a concrete base.